laptop

Almost forgot;

Back-up all data you input in XP. You will have to use fdisk to return the disk to FAT 32 and reformat the HD to be able to load ME. XP uses NTFS and ME uses FAT 32.

FYI__XP can be NTFS or FAT32(typo in above)

I really do not think you can boot to an Win Me cd,do a clean install as i don't believe you have the option to format drive is available.I am not to familiar with Win Me as it's been along time since i worked with it.Check the add/remove option in the control panel

Good Luck

If you changed the File System from Fat32 to NTFS it won't & can't change back...I suspect yours is now an NTFS file system. If so, find the original install disk/restore disk set and reformat it and install ME fresh. There aren't any legal "download sites" of MS Win9x (ME) that I know of.

Here's a guide if you are formatting a fresh install, fairly step-by-step for the beginner to novice.

http://www.easydesksoftware.com/youformat.htm

This 1 may help if you are a bit more advanced, don't overlook the discussion portion as there's some good info there too.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article.jhtml?id=r00320000705eng02.htm&page=2

Just re-read the question. When you "formatted" it, did you "fdisk c:" and remove all partitions? The re-partition the drive, before formatting the drive? If not, and you have the Win9x (ME) CD, and a WinME Boot Floppy, Turn off the puter, wait 1 min., insert the boot floppy, turn it on and let it boot from the floppy (if it won't boot from the floppy, change the boot order in CMOS settings till it will "Floppy first in boot device order"). Then choose Start without CD Rom support.

@ the A:\> prompt, type fdisk c: Then choose show installed partition information. Then (and it's a bit of a game of back and forth here starting large and going small), delete the partitions starting w/ logical, then extended, then primary partitions, one @a time until there aren't any left.

Then create a primary partition, extend it to maximum by answering yes when asked. Don't forget to answer yes to the large disk support question. After the partition(s) are set, then shutdown and restart w/ theboot floppy in place (choose w/out CD ROM support again), type Format C: @ the A:\> prompt and allow the new FAT32 large single partitioned drive to format, shut down again, use the boot disk again, choose w/CD ROM support this time, put the CD in now, Type E: and hit enter.

Now @ the E:\> prompt, type CD\Win9x and hit enter, type Setup and hit enter. After setup copies all the Windows files and restarts, it may ask to "Boot from CD" or "Boot from Hard Drive"...Choose "Boot from Hard Drive" and allow it to complete setup. After it loads and finishes don't forget to create the directory "C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS" and copy the cab files from the CD to the hard drive so Windows can find all the cab files in the future.

That is the industry standard directory for those setup files. Not in C:\Win9x or ME. Tech's like myself would be looking for them there when needed in the future.

Good Luck!

If you don't have a Win ME boot disk borrow 1 from a friend, or you can use a Win98SE boot disk anyone can make you 1 from a Win98 or ME machine.